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Baranyai: Platitudes won’t help traumatized responders

The tragedy narrative is all too familiar: thoughts and prayers for the families, followed by appreciation for the first responders. Its repetition has worn a groove on our consciousness, like a creek at the bottom of a canyon, subtly eroding the landscape.

The students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School have told the world in no uncertain terms they are tired of words without action. A wave of student activism triggered by the Feb. 14 shooting has re-energized the debate on gun control, and stirred something unexpected: hope.

Thoughts and prayers are not the only sentiments to ring false after a tragedy. The less-discussed half of the narrative — gratitude for first responders — also rests on empty platitudes. Too often, the men and women who rush toward danger are appreciated more in word than deed.

The people who put themselves in harm’s way to keep us safe are entitled to health care when they are injured on the job. But their injuries are not always physical. When it comes to mental health, access to support is inconsistent.

First responders are twice as likely as the rest of us to develop post-traumatic stress disorder, according to the Ministry of Labour. Symptoms of PTSD can include flashbacks or intrusive thoughts, irritability, trouble sleeping, and self-medicating with drugs or alcohol. It can be triggered by a single event or a series of traumatic stressors over time.

Rep. Matt Willhite, a fire captain with the Palm Beach County Fire Rescue, knows the difficulty firsthand. “I see how the calls we respond to each and every day can take a toll on the well-being of my crew and our other first responders. From homicides, child deaths, and unfortunately, situations like the tragedy that took place in Parkland last week . . . they have to take the memories from that day home with them.”

As state representative for Florida’s 86th district, Willhite has sponsored a bill to extend workers’ compensation benefits to first responders diagnosed with PTSD.

“The number of first responder suicides has now well exceeded the number of ‘in the line of duty’ deaths,” he said by email. “Many first responders are not getting the care they need because if they need to miss work, their family misses out on a paycheque.”

Across Canada, too, PTSD benefits are a patchwork. The Liberal government has pledged a co-ordinated national action plan for first responders with PTSD.

Workers fare better in Ontario where, since 2016, PTSD has been recognized as a work-related illness for emergency responders. Under the old rules, they had to prove the illness was job-related to be eligible for coverage, through the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board. Claimants already buckling under stress faced invasive questions about potential stressors in their personal lives.

The legislative change affected some 73,000 emergency responders in Ontario, including correctional workers, paramedics and dispatch personnel. These three professions suffer roughly double the risk of attempted suicide, relative to other public safety professions, according to a recent study published in Canadian Psychology.

The updated policy covers PTSD diagnoses since April 6, 2014, but only if the claimant was still working as a first responder on or after that date. That can be problematic, according to Renee Mair, CEO and founder of the PTSD support foundation Many to One.

“They may have left the job for other reasons, such as depression or self-medicating, and then they are diagnosed years later,” she says. But she sees improvement, with on-the-job resources more readily available.